Careful!

Yesterday when I checked my email for the first time that morning there was an email from one of my cousins. Gary and I are about the same age and are fairly close---for people who have never lived near each other as adults. But as teenagers we used to double date, were in each others weddings and generally have enjoyed each others company when we do get together. We talk on the phone maybe once a year. We visit every couple of years.

 Gary was an airline pilot and in retirement he and his wife travel alot. And the email said, "I am in Greece; have been mugged and lost cash, billfold etc....Send money." No address given.

Now I've heard about all the scams and I really was suspicious immediately. For one thing, Gary has alot of money and has friends with alot more money than we have. One of my first thoughts was I would probably not be the first person Gary would contact for money. But I also thought that if he really was in trouble I would want to help. There were a couple of things that furthered my suspicion so after about an hour I picked up the phone and called his home number in Dallas. Sure enough Gary answered. It was a scam---his computer had been hacked.

Now I can't think of anything particularly spiritual to add to this blog---only that Gary and I had a good reconnection on a very personal level. Maybe one that we needed to have. His wife has been ill and he sounded tired.

Be careful of scams. Pick up the phone when you get a prompt to do that---maybe even if it feels like a scam. Is God prompting you? I don't know.I only know it felt good to talk with Gary.

Blessings-Penny

Thanks

I really need to remind myself to stop and say "thanks." Thanks to God for all the blessings.

 As evidenced by my last posting I can get sad, tense, angry, distracted by the disappointments that occur in my life and the lives of those I love...my grandson's Mersa infection that kept him out of a competitive part of the Marine Corps and devastated him, my grand daughter's not receiving an early admission to the college of her choice, my son's disappointment about the job. Mercy, mercy! They all seem so devastating at the time.

In reality my grandson is doing fine---though not as pleased with his enlistment as he might be; my grand daughter is aware she still has a very good chance of regular admission; my son will get a good job.

And the sun comes up every day; the moon sets over the mountains in the early morning; the geese honk as they fly over. Life does have lots of disappointments...friends with very sick spouses, financial problems, devastating storms and damage, the addiction rears its head. Life often does not unfold as we hope or plan.

Do I stop to remind myself of the blessings and to say thanks? Do I remember God promises, "I have called you by name; you are mine." I am His! Amazing!

You are His also. Whether you believe or not!

We need to rest in that promise.

Blessings-Penny

this parenting gig

I've known this since I had my first baby but it hits me every time----this parenting gig is never over! One of my sons has had a huge disappointment this past week. It is something that has embarrassed him and had an impact on his self image and self esteem. He says it is something that has put "a stink on him." My baby! My wonderful, talented, sensitive baby!

Now in reality he is a grown man, a successful man who will move on and use this disappointment for his growth in the future. But right now he is hurting---and I hurt. This parenting love just never ends.

I am to write a Lenten meditation for our church Lenten booklet. My assigned scriptural passage for this meditation is Isiah 42. God's promise in this chapter--"He who created the heavens and stretched them out...I will take your hand, I will keep you." And in Isiah 43 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you: and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."

God's promises. Can I live into these promises in this pain? Can I open my hand so He can take it and keep me?

Can you?
Blessings-Penny

one out of three

As I have mentioned before two of my friends and I meet for coffee once a month just to talk. The goal is to talk about the important things that are going on in our lives. We don't offer advice. We don't counsel. We just listen. We do this because we each believe that it is so important just to be heard---to have someone who cares enough just to listen.

Saturday our conversation centered around our families of origin. The conversation started around concerns for one of our grown children and our own parenting practices. The conversation then moved to how we were parented. One friend talked about the perspective that we all tell ourselves stories in our heads---stories based on how we see (or saw) things---stories that might not be based in fact ---stories that other people might see very differently.

The other friend talked about her family of origin with such love. She talked about loving parents--a father who worked 2 jobs to make ends meet--a mother who stayed home with the 5 sisters and wouldn't let them buy the food stamp lunch card they were eligible for because it was a different color from the regular one---"She didn't want us to feel different...I didn't know we were poor until much later...a 3 bedroom 1 bath house with 5 girls and 2 parents....Everyone in the neighborhood was the same so we didn't feel poor...They all just did the best they could with what they had."

Myself and the other friend listened with genuine envy. We each came from troubled, rather chaotic families---alcohol, early death of one parent, siblings with major problems. However each of us knew we were deeply loved and would never be abandoned.

The three of us are confronted with many of the same issues now....jobs, retirement, communication, relationships, financial. The friend from the loving home frames her perspectives in "we/they are doing the best they can with what they have." The other friend and myself seem to be not as accepting---we seem to want to "do something"--fix it.

Is it the difference in the homes we were raised in?---the problems that always seemed to need fixing?
One family out of three was "healthy?" That seems about right--maybe a little high??

Today I will ask God to help me "do the best I can with what I have."
Blessings-Penny

Wondering

Sometimes I sit here by the window wondering what to write about. What might have some meaning for people who read this? What are they concerned about?

Several things go through my mind> things like the stress/anxiety/fears of the mother I wrote about several weeks ago. Her mentally ill son was hospitalized in a local emergency room because there was no room in any psyc. facility or group home for him with his recent aggressive behavior. He was kept in that emergency room for over a month!!! Talk about no room at the inn!! Finally last Monday a place was obtained in a group home. How will he adjust?? How can this horrific care be happening in this wealthy country?

Then there is the 83 year old friend who feels her doctors don't talk to each other or have any idea about her conditions. Frightened.

The Grief and Hope Group last Monday---a feeling that it is becoming a worthwhile group.

Then I sit here and see 4 yellow finches nibbling on the crepe myrtle tree seeds on my patio. It's January in Las Vegas!! Miracles.

Do you get confused?

Life is really a mystery. God holds me in my confusion.

Blessings-Penny

Year in PREview

Now the newspaper is full of things we "should" do in the coming year---get fit, eat right, lose weight, make a bucket list, get organized, tidy up.

And the priest on New Years Day said, "Quit sniping and laugh more." That was it. That was the sermon. Well, there was a little bit more to it but the part I took out of the church was, "quit sniping and laugh more." What peace that would bring into my world if I quit "sniping" (criticizing) and laughed more? That means taking things--life---others---politics---people (some relatives!) less seriously and with more laughter.

Would more laughter make your life more peaceful?
When? How? It might take some focus to make this happen.
Will my children, my spouse, my co-workers notice a difference?
How will that look on New Years Day 2017?
Each day upon awakening can we ask God to give us the grace to laugh more?


Blessing--Penny